Saturday, February 28, 2009

After a nagging hip injury forced him to return home mid-way from the Test series against the West Indies, England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff hinted he may skip the lucrative Indian Premier League to stay fit to take on the Australians in the Ashes series.Flintoff, who was bagged by IPL's Chennai Super Kings side for a record $1.55 million, has insisted that representing England is of utmost importance to him and is currently eying the forthcoming ODI series against the West Indies to stage a comeback."It seems that, at the minute, everybody is going on about the IPL. It's a hot topic. But I want to play for England in this upcoming one-day series."The IPL is still a few weeks away and my goal is to play for England and, after that, the IPL will take care of itself. It's something I want to play in, but my ultimate goal is playing for England," the 31-year-old cricketer was quoted as saying in the Daily Telegraph.Flintoff will now undergo a rehabilitation programme and is scheduled to reunite with the team on March 10, if fitness permits."I just want to get home, do my work and then get back out here as soon as I can. When you're injured, you're always a little bit flat and you don't know where to put yourself in the dressing-room. Everyone you bump into is asking you about your injury," Flintoff said.The all-rounder revealed his hip injury first came to light during the first Test in Jamaica."I felt a bit of a niggle there. But it was more tightness than anything else. I was then in discomfort all the way through the (third) Test in Antigua."Whether I made it worse, I'm not quite sure. It was very frustrating, though. For the first time in a long time, after being out in the second innings (in Antigua), I went into the dressing-rooms and threw my bat," Flintoff said.